Mayor of Jacksonville
Seal of the City of Jacksonville
Flag of the City of Jacksonville
Incumbent
Donna Deegan
since July 1, 2023
StyleThe Honorable
Term length4 years, renewable once consecutively
Inaugural holderWilliam J. Mills
Formation1832
Salary$206,218
Websitewww.coj.net/mayor/meet-the-mayor

The mayor of Jacksonville is the chief executive for the city of Jacksonville, Florida. Jacksonville currently utilizes the strong mayor form of government in which the mayor currently has significant powers compared to the Jacksonville City Council. Ever since the land consolidation of Jacksonville as early as the late 19th century with the rest of Duval County, Florida, and further consolidation around 1968; the mayor is considered the administrator over the entire county. The current holder of the position is Donna Deegan who was elected in the 2023 election.

History

The first mayor of Jacksonville, William J. Mills, was elected in 1832. A new city charter in 1841 changed the titled to "Intendant" until 1859 when it was changed back to mayor. The information on mayors of Jacksonville from 1832 to 1848 is limited, mostly due to the Great Fire of 1901 which destroyed some of the city's records. Most of the information available today was taken from newspapers published during the period.

There was no election for mayor in 1840, nor during the Civil War in 1862, 1863, and 1864. During the Reconstruction era, mayoral elections resumed but the position had no real power, with the city being administered by the United States Military. There was no set amount of time in which one person can stay as mayor.

On May 31, 1887, the city instituted a new charter, annexing several suburbs, including LaVilla, Springfield, Riverside, Brooklyn, East Jacksonville, and Fairfield. The mayor's term of office was also increased from one year to two. The mayor serving at the time, John Quincy Burbridge, had been elected on April 8 of that year, but the new charter required a new election to be held. On December 13, 1887, another election was held and Charles Bristol Smith, a Republican, won with support from members of the city's large African American community. After this, local Democrats petitioned the Florida State Legislature to change the city charter once again in an effort to curb Republican and black participation in local politics. The result was that direct election of mayors in the city was abolished from 1889 until 1893. Mayors during this period were elected by the city council, who were appointed by the governor of Florida.

The city's charter changed several times over the next several decades, and additional areas were annexed, expanding the city limits. The biggest change to local government, however, was the Jacksonville Consolidation, which took effect on October 1, 1968. In this measure, the Duval County and City of Jacksonville governments were consolidated, expanding the city limits to include almost the entire county. Mayor Hans Tanzler had just taken office on June 23, 1967; however, consolidation meant that he would have to run again for the office of mayor for the newly consolidated city government. Tanzler was re-elected and took office on March 1, 1968. Since that time mayors have been elected every four years. Voters in 1991 approved a two-term limit for Duval constitutional officers.[1]

Mayors of Jacksonville, Florida

The following is a list of mayors of Jacksonville:

Pre-Civil War mayors

# Mayor Took office Left office
1 William J. Mills 1832 1835
2 Unknown 1835 1838
3 Stephen Eddy 1839 1840
4 None 1840 1841

Intendant period

# Name Took office Left office
1 Unknown 1841 1844
2 Obediah Congar 1844 1845
3 Unknown 1845 1846
4 Joseph B. Lancaster 1846 1847
5 Oliver Wood 1847 1848
6 Unknown 1848 1849
7 Rodney Dorman 1849 1850
8 J. McRobert Baker 1850 1851
9 Rodney Dorman 1851 1852
10 Henry D. Holland 1852 1853
11 Isaac Swart 1853 1854
12 F. C. Barrett 1854 1855
13 Philip Fraser 1855 1856
14 F. I. Wheaton 1856 1857
15 George C. Gibbs 1856 1857
16 John S. Murdock 1858 1859

Pre-Civil War mayors revived

# Name Took office Left office
1 Holmes Steele 1859 1860
2 Halstead H. Hoeg 1861 1862

There were no elections held in 1862, 1863, and 1864.

Pre-consolidation mayors

# Name Took office Left office Party
1 Halstead H. Hoeg 1865 1866 Democratic
2 Holmes Steele 1866 1867 Democratic
3 John Clark 1867 1868 Democratic
4 Edward Hopkins 1868 1870 Democratic
5 Peter Jones 1870 1873 Republican
6 J. C. Greeley 1873 1874 Republican
7 Peter Jones 1874 1876 Republican
8 Luther McConihe 1876 1877 Democratic
9 W. Stokes Boyd 1877 1878 Democratic
10 Luther McConihe 1878 1879 Democratic
11 Peter Jones 1879 1880 Republican
12 J. Ramsey Dey 1880 1881 Republican
13 Morris A. Dzialynski 1881 1883 Democratic
14 William McLaw Dancy 1883 1885 Democratic
15 Marshall.C. Rice 1885 1886 Democratic
16 Patrick McQuaid 1886 1887 Democratic
17 John Quincy Burbridge 1887 1887 Democratic
18 Charles Bristol Smith 1887 1888 Republican
19 Patrick McQuaid 1888 1891 Democratic
20 Henry Robinson 1891 1893 Democratic
21 Duncan U. Fletcher 1893 1895 Democratic
22 William M. Bostwick 1895 1897 Democratic
23 Raymond D. Knight 1897 1899 Democratic
24 J. E. T. Bowden 1899 1901 Democratic
25 Duncan U. Fletcher 1901 1903 Democratic
26 George M. Nolan 1903 1906 Democratic
27 William H. Baker 1906 1907 Democratic
28 William H. Sebring 1907 1909 Democratic
29 William S. Jordan 1909 1913 Democratic
30 Van C. Swearingen 1913 1915 Democratic
31 J. E. T. Bowden 1915 1917 Democratic
32 John W. Martin 1917 1923 Democratic
32 John T. Alsop, Jr. 1923 1937 Democratic
32 George C. Blume 1937 1941 Democratic
33 John T. Alsop, Jr. 1941 1945 Democratic
34 Frank Whitehead 1945 1949 Democratic
35 W. Haydon Burns 1949 1965 Democratic
36 Lou Ritter 1965 1967 Democratic
37 Hans Tanzler 1967 1968 Democratic

Consolidated city mayors

# Name Took office Left office Party
1 Hans Tanzler March 1, 1968 January 1, 1979 Democratic
2 Jake Godbold January 1, 1979 July 1, 1987 Democratic
3 Tommy Hazouri July 1, 1987 July 1, 1991 Democratic
4 Ed Austin[2][3] July 1, 1991 1993 Democratic
1993 July 1, 1995 Republican
5 John Delaney July 1, 1995 July 1, 2003 Republican
6 John Peyton July 1, 2003 July 1, 2011 Republican
7 Alvin Brown July 1, 2011 July 1, 2015 Democratic
8 Lenny Curry July 1, 2015 July 1, 2023 Republican
9 Donna Deegan[4] July 1, 2023 present Democratic

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hong, Christopher (February 8, 2016). "Term limit increase set for vote Tuesday before Jacksonville City Council". Florida Times-Union. Jacksonville.com. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  2. ↑ Mary Kelli Palka (April 23, 2011). "Former Jacksonville mayor Ed Austin preached fairness, justice". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
  3. ↑ Ed Austin, Jr. campaigned and was elected as a Democrat, but during his term as mayor he changed his party affiliation to Republican.
  4. ↑ Shelton, Shania (May 16, 2023). "CNN projects Democrat Donna Deegan will become Jacksonville's first female mayor". CNN. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
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